Pubdate: Wed, 10 Dec 2008
Source: Willamette Week (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2008 Willamette Week Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.wweek.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/499
Author: James Pitkin
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

WORKING SPLIFFS

The Fight Over Medical Marijuana At Work Is On-Again.

A corporate lawyer is reigniting a four-year  legislative battle to 
stomp out thousands of Oregon  medical marijuana users in the 
workplace. And cannabis  advocates fear this time they'll finally 
lose the  fight.

Dan Harmon, vice chairman of Associated Oregon  Industries, has been 
touring the state telling business  leaders and policy makers he'll 
push the 2009  Legislature to allow employers to fire medical 
marijuana users-even if they toke only at home.

Harmon says he's also pushing to require employer  notification if a 
worker has a medical marijuana  card.Currently, 20,547 Oregonians have them.

"Basically, it would allow them to hang up the 'No  Medical Marijuana 
Patients Need Apply' sign," says Russ  Belville, associate director 
of the Oregon chapter of  the National Organization for the Reform of 
Marijuana  Laws. "They want your boss to become your doctor."

Harmon, general counsel for Portland-based building  giant Hoffman 
Construction, echoes cops who say the law  is widely abused. Harmon 
also believes medical  marijuana poses a danger to workplace safety.

"We have a permissiveness around substance abuse,"  Harmon says. 
"There's an agenda out there to legalize  marijuana, and this can't 
be the Trojan horse."

Oregon law now says employers need not accommodate  patients' 
marijuana use in the workplace, but it says  nothing about home use.

Harmon wants to bring back a bill that's twice failed  to pass the 
Legislature. That measure would rewrite the  law to say employers 
need not accommodate medical  marijuana users "regardless of where 
the use occurs."  Harmon says the change would leave it up to bosses 
to decide if a worker's marijuana use poses a threat,  whether they 
use it on the job or off.

After failing in the 2005 and 2007 legislative  sessions, a 
compromise bill was slated for the 2008  special session. Rep. Peter 
Buckley (D-Ashland), who  authored the compromise, says House leaders 
spiked it  because a Feb. 4 editorial in The Oregonian opposed 
it,  calling instead for employers to be allowed to fire  users.

This time around, pot advocates fear the bill will  finally pass 
because one of its early supporters, Rep.  Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone), 
has been elevated to House  speaker for 2009. Hunt was in the 
minority of eight  Democrats in 2005 who voted for the bill, which 
was  carried by arch-conservative Rep. Linda Flores  (R-Clackamas).

In the past two years, campaign finance records show  Hunt has 
received $16,000 from Associated Oregon  Industries. But Hunt's 
spokesman, Geoff Sugerman, says  that's irrelevant to a compromise 
that now-Speaker Hunt  will be seeking.

"Clearly our goal is to find legislation that satisfies  both the 
business community and medical marijuana  cardholders," Sugerman 
says. "We are confident that  we'll pass the bill in both chambers 
this session."

Proponents of the change frame the issue in terms of  workplace 
safety. But marijuana advocates point to  numerous state statistics 
that show workplace accidents  and deaths have been decreasing since 
the  medical-marijuana law passed. And because THC can  linger in fat 
cells for more than 30 days, merely  testing positive can't confirm 
whether a worker is  under the influence when tested.

As a compromise measure for workplace safety, pot  advocates are 
proposing impairment tests for jobs such  as drivers and crane 
operators, where safety is a  significant issue. Ultimately, they'd 
like to see a  patient's bill of rights that guarantees marijuana 
users won't be fired for taking their medicine.

The state Bureau of Labor and Industries says patients'  jobs are 
protected only if they use marijuana to treat  a qualifying 
disability under the Americans with  Disabilities Act. If not, they 
can be fired merely for  testing positive on a drug test, even if 
it's for prescribed marijuana. But the new proposal would both  let 
employers know who has cards and end ambiguity  around home use.

Several fired workers have challenged their employers  in court. 
Leland Berger, lawyer for the Voter Power  marijuana reform group, 
says so far there has been no  conclusive case in Oregon that would 
protect employee  rights.

FACT: When Dan Harmon's older brother David was  terminally ill 15 
years ago, Harmon says he bought him  marijuana on the black market 
to ease his suffering.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom